UH to offer alternative prostate cancer biopsy method
UH to offer alternative prostate cancer biopsy method
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University Hospitals Urology Institute is using a new technique to diagnose prostate cancer through a method that allows the urologist to obtain a prostate biopsy with a lower risk of introducing bacteria than the traditional method, according to a news release.
A transrectal ultrasound guided method has been used for the past 30 years.
The new technique, called the PrecisionPoint Transperineal Access System (PPTAS) in conjunction with MRI guided fusion technology, optimizes cancer detection and can be used in an office setting under local anesthesia or with sedation, according to the release, which notes it s the first FDA-cleared device allowing free-handed transperineal biopsy of the prostate.
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About two million American men undergo transrectal biopsies each year to diagnose prostate cancer or to monitor low-risk and favorable intermediate-risk prostate cancers for active surveillance (AS).
Men on AS, like me, who have undergone routine transrectal biopsies may be warned that we face a 1-3% risk for sepsis infections in which nasty microbes from the rectum are spread to the bloodstream and wreak havoc. Many are not warned at all.
But it gets worse: A number of these men die or suffer disability from sepsis from transrectal biopsies, according to Richard Szabo, MD, a clinical associate professor of urology at the University of California Irvine.